The present invention relates to a push button switch for electrical and electronic devices comprising a push button and an electrically conducting elastic switch element which is caused by the push button to move rapidly, in a snap action, from a normal position into an operating position in which it contacts at least one fixed contact attached to a conductor-carrying insulator plate, such as a printed circuit board. When the force exerted on the push button is removed, the elastic switching element returns to its normal position.
Known push button switches of the above-outlined type are utilized as individual electrical switches or as a group in a planar arrangement, for example for data input in keyboards of electronic computers or electrical typewriters. The elastic, snap action switch elements are designed either as cup-shaped contact springs as disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,262,777, or as two contact frames each having a bent central strip and two contact pieces and are thickened at two opposite lateral edges as disclosed, for example, in German Laid-Open Application (Offenlegungsschrift) No. 2,411,426. Cup-shaped contact springs, however, form a surface which cannot be developed and thus require increased manufacturing costs. The same applies for a contact frame which is shortened at opposite lateral edges, and the central strip of which thus assumes a curved shape. Moreover, such contact frame can be used merely as a single switch and not as a one-piece switch element for a plurality of push button switches arranged along a line or a plane.